Broken
by coldie voldie
Summary: When William Darcy first meets Elizabeth Bennet, he is immediately taken by her. When his friend Charlie starts to date her sister Jane, he finds himself completely in love before he can do anything to stop it. But something is holding Elizabeth back. Something that no one will talk about, and he's left wondering what could have happened to leave this woman so incredibly broken?


A/N: So this is my first Pride and Prejudice work, although I do have two other stories. I've been running ideas around in my head for month trying to figure out a unique modern retelling of this amazing work, and I've finally settled on this one. So bear with me, it might not be what you think at first. I didn't want it to follow exact original story-line, and I'm going to apologize in advance to those who don't care for that. Luckily, there's over two thousand other P&P fanfics you can choose from, that will satisfy that need. ;)

Also, a few notes about this:

1. Everything in this story takes place in the United States. I wanted to leave in England where the story was born, but as I am not English, I didn't think I do a modern version justice. Although I have spent some time in England, particularly in London, I seriously doubt it was enough time to incorporate (completely) the uniqueness of their way of speech. So as such, our beloved characters are American, (although I still haven't decided on if the Darcy's will be English or not…..tell me what you would prefer).

2. Even though I have traveled quite a bit and been to about 35 of the 50 states, this is going to take place in Alabama. I've seen a lot of modern stories taking place in Texas (the amazing place that it is), but since I've lived in northern Alabama for ten years, and am currently attending the university that's featured in this story, I thought that it would flow better with me actually referring to places that I know and see everyday, haha. Oh, also Elizabeth is a little older than in the novel. A little closer to Darcy's age. But I'll explain all that nonsense in a later chapter.

Now for the disclaimer that will apply to the whole story, because I hate typing it in every single chapter, and you will only see it here:

**I do not own any of the characters in this story; they are all from the brilliant mind of Jane Austen, and all rights belong to her. I also own nothing, take no profits, and have no rights to the University of Alabama-Huntsville, NASA, Redstone Arsenal, The United States National Space and Rocket Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville Hospital, the Werner Von Braun Center or really anything that's mentioned in the city of Huntsville. If you want more information about these places, Google is a wonderful invention for you to use at your disposal. Actually, this place is really beautiful, you should check out some pictures and let you imagination run wild with thoughts of Elizabeth and Darcy traipsing around here ;)**

And now…Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter One

**March 12, 2012**

Elizabeth Bennet stared at the ceiling through the semi-darkness that came with the early hours of the day. She didn't move, not wanting to disturb the perfect warmth and comfort of her bed. She didn't glance to her left to see the alarm clock that rested on her nightstand. Her alarm hadn't gone off yet, and yet she knew exactly how much time she had to get ready. She knew it was probably 5:45, the same time she woke up every morning. She knew that in fifteen minutes her alarm would go off, and she would get out of bed and head for the shower. She would then spend the next 45 minutes getting ready for work, before going to the kitchen and spending about 10 minutes taking care of making a light breakfast that included am extremely strong pot of coffee. Then another 10 minutes on getting her papers together in a folder, grabbing her breakfast, coffee, purse, and keys and walking out of the side door in her kitchen to the garage, where she would get into her 2009 midnight blue Honda Accord at almost exactly 7:15. Elizabeth knew all this with such certainty because she had been doing this exact same routine almost every day for years.

She wasn't bored with it. No, this routine was comforting to her, and gave her a sense of stability, even if she didn't feel quite altogether. No matter what happened in her life, family crises, sickness, bills, unexpected deadlines at work, this was the one thing that never changed for her under any circumstances. The foundation of every, the firm structure that her every day was placed on, and without that foundation, she felt as though the rest of her days might crumble away. She counted on the things she could depend upon. Like her job, her sister Jane, her morning routine, and even her family, though secretly a little less so than the aforementioned. Elizabeth stared at the ceiling and contemplated the sanity of giving these things such control over her every day. Her job…it wasn't _too_ serious to place such importance on her job. Especially when she had worked so hard to become who she was.

Elizabeth Bennet held a PhD in History, and a Master's degree in Music specializing in voice. She was an associate professor, and the Director of Classical Studies at The University of Alabama in Huntsville, and perhaps the most impressive of all, she was only 24. Such a feat had not been claimed without hard work, however, and after spending nearly eight years in college, she found that she still loved the challenging atmosphere that always hovered around the University as much as she had on her first day there.

Her alarm started to buzz, and she finally took her eyes away from the ceiling to shut it off. Sighing slightly at the inevitable loss of warmth, she untangled herself from the sheets and made her way to the windows, throwing them wide open, and basking in the cool calm of an early spring morning. Breathing deeply, she focused on the wonderful smell of the dew clinging to the grass and flowers, and the cheerful twittering of the birds. Oh how she loved the outdoors! She left the windows open, and headed to the bathroom to shower.

Forty-five minutes later, Dr. Elizabeth Bennet opened her bedroom door, professionally attired in black dress pants, a lovely dark purple blouse, and a black sweater, and headed to the kitchen. She was instantly assailed with the smell of baked deliciousness, and upon reaching the kitchen found an enormous muffin waiting for her on the counter. She smiled as she noticed the beautiful flowing handwriting of her sister on the note that sat beneath her plate. Picking up the pastel yellow colored paper she read:

_Lizzie,_

_I know you usually don't eat something this substantial for breakfast, but I was up a little earlier than I had planned and thought you might like something to keep you company since I'm not there. I'll be glad when I get this examination over with, then we might see more of each other! Anyways, they said it should only take a few hours, so I'll just make my way over to Robert's Hall when I finish and disrupt your classes, and make them forget everything you've taught them!_

_Jane_

Lizzie smiled at the thoughtfulness of her sister. In actuality, she had four sisters: Jane, Mary, Catherine (whom everyone referred to as Kitty), and Lydia. Jane and Elizabeth were closet, in both age and relationship. With her own birthday in the first week of April, and Jane's birthday the first week of June, they were almost exactly ten months apart. Which is probably why they were so close. Mary was 22, Kitty was 20, and Lydia was only 18, although the youngest three still lived at home, something Elizabeth didn't really mind at all. She loved her family dearly, sometimes more than she realized, but she didn't lament over the last few years of her living there; they had been particularly unpleasant. She sighed as she got into her car, pushed the button on her garage door opener, and headed to join the throng of the morning commuters at exactly 7:15, like she did every morning.

She was a stubborn person, she knew that well enough without anyone else having to remind her. Her mother was a very…particular woman with very particular ideas of how things were supposed to go in life, and very particular ways she wanted her children to be. Elizabeth purposefully did not fit into any of these categories. They were like two whirlwind forces of nature, constantly hammering each other with their relentlessness. Needless to say they didn't get along very well. Of course, things were still always a little strained for Elizabeth when it came to her mother. Although with her mother's constantly changing moods she could never quite tell if she genuinely enjoyed Elizabeth's company, or if she just put up with her to her face until she left. She wanted to believe the first, but she felt it was probably closer to the second. She shook herself out of her thoughts as she pulled into the parking lot across from Roberts Hall. The past was in the past, unimportant, and useless to her right here in the present. She had lectures to focus on, and students to teach.

* * *

There was about twenty minutes left in her last class of the day, when Jane walked in through her open classroom door. A few heads looked up from their note-taking, but they were quite used to the appearance of their Professor's sister. Elizabeth had not yet noticed her, and continued on writing out the timeline on the chalkboard.

"It wasn't until 1607 that England was able to successfully establish a colony in North America, that colony of course being Jamestown, in Virginia, which was in fact established by the Virginia-Oh hello, Jane." She said, stopping her lecture short as she noticed her sister. She smiled warmly at her.

"Hello Lizzie," Jane replied, smiling with an equal warmth. "I didn't mean to interrupt your lecture, I'm sorry." she glanced over at the students, most of them looking as though they didn't really mind the intrusion at all. "I just wanted to let you know I'll be in your office whenever you finish."

"Yeah, we've only got-" Elizabeth glanced at her watch. "About fifteen minutes left." Jane smiled again, but left without another word. Elizabeth paused, looking up at the chalkboard. "Well, now I've lost my train of thought." she said, turning back toward the class. "Oh well, just remember that the Chapter 4 quiz is next Monday, so you need to be using the study guide's I gave you. Believe me, it's in your best interest; It's going to be a rough one." The class simultaneously groaned at the news. Elizabeth laughed. "Yes, I know, but you've got the whole week to prepare, and as always my office is always open if you need any help. Now get out of here and enjoy the rest of you day!" Some of the students laughed, and others smiled happily at her before rushing through the door.

As she made her way down the hall towards her office, she could hear the tinkling sound of Jane's laughter mixing in with the deeper, throatier laugh of a man. Turning the corner she spied a cheerful looking, freckly, and extremely ginger-haired man standing in the doorway of her office. She came up beside the young man, whom she thought she recognized from somewhere, and cleared her throat softly. He turned abruptly and his eyes widened.

"Oh Dr. Bennet! Excuse me, I'm so sorry!" he hastily stepped aside, and Elizabeth immediately remembered who he was.

"No worries, Mr. Bingley." She said smiling at her former pupil. "I haven't seen you around these part's for a little while. You must have finished with all your basic's then?" She walked in and set her papers down on the desk her sister was sitting at, and briefly noticing the faint pink that tinged her cheeks.

"Yes, I'm actually graduating this semester." He replied, smiling once more at the thought.

"Good for you, Charles!" She said encouragingly. She glanced at Jane again quickly before asking: "So, hopefully this isn't _too_ rude, but how do you know my sister?" Jane laughed openly at her remark, and Charles blushed at little. Whether it was from her earlier praise, or from her remark about Jane she couldn't be sure.

"Oh, we're in the same art appreciation class."

"Ah, so my sister isn't the only one who left the required art elective till the very end." Elizabeth teased in the most serious tone she could muster. He blushed a little deeper.

"Oh Charlie, don't pay too much attention to my sister, she's only teasing you." He laughed a little nervously, much to Elizabeth's amusement.

"Yes, I'm afraid I've always been a subtle source of amusement for your sister." he replied. Elizabeth chuckled.

"I'm afraid what he says is true, Jane." Elizabeth said. "But don't get too offended. I tease everyone."

"It's true." Jane replied seriously. Everyone laughed at this.

"Hey," Charlie said. "If you don't have any plans, I was planning on meeting a friend for dinner a little later. He just got in from Atlanta, and we were going to just go grab something casual while he unpacks his stuff. Do you two maybe want to join us?"

"Oh, I would hate to intrude." Jane said, looking apologetic. "Especially if he only got into town today."

"Oh, well actually, I was thinking he would probably enjoy the chance to socialize for a little while before he get's back into the swing of things. He's a pretty busy guy, so I'm sure he wouldn't mind at all." He smiled warmly at Jane, and Elizabeth had a feeling he wasn't just doing it for his newly arrived friend. Glancing at her sister, she warmly accepted the invitation on behalf of them both, before settling on a time and location.

* * *

So please please please let me know what you think! Also, don't forget to tell me your opinion on Darcy. ;)


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